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DIY Liquid Bangles

Ok, so I haven’t posted an actual sewing tutorial on this blog yet, but I just had to share this awesome craft I found on Pinterest! After some fails and tweaks, I (with the help of the hubs– Ok, he ended up making them all) made these for a Dirty Santa gift exchange. They were a hit! It totally takes me back to my childhood memories of side ponytails, sweatbands and Spandex. Totally.

DIY Liquid Bangles

You’ll need:

1 yard of 1/4″ Vinyl Tubing & 1/2 yard of 3/8″ Vinyl Tubing (Found at Lowes in the Plumbing Department)Vinyl Adhesive (I purchased LocTite, also found at Lowes)Glitter or Small Beads of your choice (Make sure the beads are the mini ones)Water, Cooking Oil and Dish Soap in some form of syringe (I used medicine syringes, given for free by our local Pharmacy)

Take your 1/4″ tubing and cut of a 6″ piece using scissors. If you have a small wrist, you could probably cut it down to 5 1/2″, but for a bigger girl like me, I just stuck with the 6″ length. You can measure your wrist before cutting and add a 1/4″ to the length if you want to as well.

Then, take the 3/8″ tubing and cut off a piece about 1/2″ long. This will be the connector for the ends of your bracelet. Here’s an example of what you should have cut out:

Take your Vinyl Adhesive and glue your 3/8″ connector to one side of your 1/4″ tube (bracelet part), like so:

Now that you have that complete, here’s the trickiest part of the whole craft.

If you are putting BEADS in your bracelet, you will fill it with COOKING OIL.

If you are putting GLITTER in your bracelet, you will add a drop ofDISH SOAP & fill it with WATER.

This part is very important because it will help your beads and glitter move around instead of stick to the site of the tube. And when it sticks, it looks gross.

So, to Summarize:

BEADS = COOKING OIL

GLITTER = DISH SOAP & WATER

Got it? Ok, Good!

If you’re making a bead bracelet, put your beads in first, make sure they can move about freely in the tube (they tend to clump together), and stick the syringe of cooking oil on one end and fill the bracelet completely. Like this:

Once your bracelet is completely full, head over to the sink, remove the syringe, try to remove any air bubbles and connect the bracelet together. Make sure you squeeze the end that does not have the connector glued to it as you insert it, as it will give it suction and help the ends stay together. Take your adhesive and coat the non-glued side of the connector to seal the entire bracelet closed.

If you’re putting glitter in your bracelet, put just a DROP of dish detergent in the non-connected end of your bracelet. Take about a quarter-sized amount of glitter in your hand and feed it into end of the bracelet with the connector. Wipe off any excess glitter that’s found outside of the bracelet.

Take your syringe of water and fill the bracelet completely with water, making sure you un-clump the glitter as you go. You can do this by lightly tapping the side of the bracelet. Don’t tap it too hard or you’ll end up with suds, and you don’t really want that!

Once your bracelet is filled, follow the same directions as the bead bracelet to connect the bracelet together and seal.

Let your bracelets sit for at least 2 hours so the adhesive can dry and give the bracelets a good seal.

Here’s the finished product. Isn’t it great?

This is such a great and inexpensive craft that kids (and kids at heart) will enjoy. Give it a shot and let me know what you think!

Hey! Meet Vanessa

A foodie, crafty, homeschooling mom of 3, who loves her Happy Planner and all things Mid Century Modern!